Sakura-viewing
by tchailenova
Summary: Tsuna's perspective, set between Mukuro's attacks and the Varia's appearance. Wherein Tsuna's tutor has a vicious streak about a mile wide, and a cunning ability to wait for the punchline to come to him. Friendship, bonding among his guardians, and Tsuna's expectations getting thrashed (with a pair of metaphorical tonfa).


Based on the Prompt: "Include a descriptive scene where a character makes a sandwich"

#SorryNotSorry lol enjoy! o/ It's set before the ring battles, and possibly also before or just after the conflict with Mukuro. Tsuna doesn't consider Hibari one of his people just yet, but Reborn sure does! I wanted so badly to send Chrome and Mukuro Sakura-viewing with them, too but it just wasn't working. I'll make up for it eventually, I'm sure.

* * *

Tsuna heard the commotion in the kitchen before he even left his room and sighed, resigning himself to more of the chaos that his daily life had become. Of course it wasn't enough that they had taken to descending upon his house during the school week. Oh, no – His house had become the undisputed meeting-place for all group activities; even if they ended up somewhere else for the day, they always started from his kitchen.

He couldn't quite bring himself to dislike the controlled chaos, though. It was his friends. It also made his mother inordinately happy to be around so many children and (very) young adults, feeding them all and playing hostess to what amounted to a group of glorified hooligans. Well, Tsuna amended, they spent most of their time _avoiding_ messes, it was just that their group was a particularly strong magnet for mayhem. One or two of them more so than the rest.

So, feeling resigned and mostly happy to see his friends, he pushed open the door and immediately had to dodge the knife that came flying his direction. Letting out a little squeak of surprise, he looked to see who had thrown the cooking implement.

Of course: Bianchi.

He should have known. Though she wasn't normally this twitchy anymore, Tsuna still remembered the hard glares she'd sent his way in the beginning. Now she was glaring at him hotly, which _would_ have been an improvement, except that she'd thrown a knife at his head. He pried the knife out of the door frame and set it delicately on the table, not feeling nearly brave enough to hand it back to her. The likelihood that it'd be sent at his head _again_ felt too insistent to be chance.

He'd learned to listen to that particular tingly intuitive sense. So instead, he made the tactically sound decision and edged towards his mom. Bianchi was much less likely to throw knives past 'dear, sweet, Nana,' and Tsuna was definitely _not_ above using that to his advantage.

"Good morning," he hazarded to the room in general when it seemed safe, after Bianchi had turned back to her cutting board.

His bizarre assortment of friends, plus Reborn, greeted him with quiet cheer (with the exception of Ryohei, whose boisterous exclamation was answered with a carrot flung at his face, courtesy Bianchi). Even Lambo was quiet, and Tsuna had to wonder in awe and trepidation what had been done to reign in the toddler's rambunctious morning habits.

Kyoko and Haru both chimed in with a friendly, "Good morning!" It was at that moment that Tsuna realized they had all, somehow, been packed into his mother's kitchen.

Before he could ask what their plans were, because they definitely had some kind of _plans_ , Nana turned and beamed at him, "Good Morning, Tsu-kun. We're going Sakura-viewing!"

Accepting his mother's ability to read his expressions as her due, Tsuna smiled weakly. There was a chance this was just a front for some complicated nonsense Reborn had cooked up, and so he was wary of looking forward to it too much. Tsuna had long ago figured out that Reborn was a sadistic little troll, and was much more complicated and smart than people usually gave him credit for – even accounting for the fact that he looked like a remarkably well-dressed baby.

Tsuna cut his gaze to Reborn accusingly, and the little Arcobaleno just smiled in the most troublesome of ways.

It turned out that they really were just going Sakura-viewing, and Tsuna wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. He knew it was a Bad Sign that he actually _missed_ Reborn's antics, and tried to calm himself down from the near-constant state of nerves he'd worked himself into. He'd just managed to relax and really start to enjoy the day of leisure and relaxation when a vaguely familiar voice snapped out a snarling warning somewhere nearby.

Tsuna's head snapped up and swiveled around wildly, and then – sure enough – he spotted who he thought he'd heard. Hibari Kyouya, Namimori Middle School Disciplinary Committee's feared leader. He thought he might be giving himself whiplash, but disregarded that as _less important_ than looking to Reborn who'd chosen that moment to _call out_ to the fearsome boy.

Sharp, pale blue eyes regarded their group and Tsuna missed the expression entirely, worried as he was about Reborn's pleased smirk. "Baby," Hibari greeted evenly, choosing to ignore everyone else present, which suited Tsuna just fine. He didn't exactly relish landing on the Disciplinary Committee's radar.

Reborn must have been reading his mind, though, because he chirped back an invitation to the intimidating boy, "Join us for a while, Hibari. We've brought plenty to share."

Inwardly, Tsuna flailed and imagined taking his revenge upon the tiny terror. It was a sweet illusion, utterly impossible though it was. At Reborn's invitation, Nana eagerly scooted over, making space between herself and Tsuna for another of Tsuna's friends. He didn't have the heart or courage to correct her, and just winced in her direction which she interpreted as a smile. So, sometimes she willfully misunderstood her son. It wasn't too often, and he didn't really want her to worry about whether he had friends (there had been quite enough of that already to last him a lifetime, thank you very much), so he mustered up a more sincere smile and directed it at Hibari. It was only a front, a defense mechanism, but it worked, and Hibari relented as though under extreme duress.

"Very well, if you insist," he allowed as he sank into the spot that had been opened up for him, but was quick to sharply add, "If you leave any trash behind, I'll bite you to death."

Tsuna stiffened at the vicious threat he'd leveled in front of Nana, but she seemed to smile good naturedly and nodded along, "Littering is forbidden, after all."

So it was that Tsuna, surrounded by family and friends and foxes in sheeps' wool, spent a perfectly lovely spring day beneath a full canopy of white and pink flowers. All the while on edge, expecting a fight to break out, or one of the many sandwiches to be poisoned by merit of having been made by Bianchi, or any other number of calculated chaos that could have been sprung on them by one terribly mischievous hitman.

Only when the sun started to go down did Tsuna realize that he'd spent the whole day exchanging mildly civil words with Hibari, and that the whole affair hadn't been completely derailed by any one of Lambo's several tantrums. Despite the stress, he found the outing had been strangely restful, knowing that his friends were near and safe, and surrounded by the natural beauty of spring. He thought maybe he should apologize and give Reborn some slack, but then realized that he'd be much better off just giving the cunning hitman the benefit of the doubt a little more often. Changing his behavior any more than that seemed like it might be playing into one of Reborn's long cons, and he knew better by now than to underestimate the Arcobaleno.


End file.
